After Steve Witte was laid off from his job at Pfizer last year, he decided to pursue a radically different approach to medicine. Swapping his New York apartment for a thatch hut near Iquitos, Peru, Witte, 44, set aside his squash hobby to become an apprentice under the master shaman Alfredo Cairuna.

BRASILIA (AFP) – Brazil has allowed the release of rare photographs of an uncontacted Amazonian tribe to bring attention to the plight of indigenous people who rights groups say are faced with possible annihilation.

LA PAZ — The pursuit of wealth and riches can take different forms, but many Andean people place their faith in a tiny, smiling ancient deity who is said to arrive festooned with gifts, food and cash.If he fails to show though, you can go to an open-air market and buy miniature cars, furniture, food -- pretty much anything -- and then ask a shaman to invoke the gods of civilizations past to make the items real.

With a strong will and no-­nonsense approach to politics, Margaret Thatcher kept a grip on Downing Street for 11 years.But while aides quickly learned her preference for clear and down-to-earth advice, it has been revealed that the Iron Lady also received early guidance from another, far more unlikely, source – an eccentric and controversial Indian mystic.

Traditional healers in court over muti theftIn a case of sangoma versus sangoma a man was fined P6 700 as the curious tale of two traditional healers unfolded before a spellbound Moshupa Customary Court last week.